On February 7, 2022, the Ohio Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of a statute providing that, during the duration of a stay-at-home order issued by the Governor related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for thirty days after its end, any day on which an employee works from home because of the order shall be deemed to be a day working at the employee’s principal place of work. A resident of Blue Ash, Ohio, who had an office located in Cincinnati, but who worked primarily from home during the duration of the stay-at-home order, challenged the statute on the grounds that the Due Process Clause prohibited Cincinnati from imposing its municipal income tax on the resident’s wages for the days worked from home. The Court disagreed, and held that cities may act extraterritorially where permitted by state law. The Court dismissed the taxpayer’s due process concerns, noting that because the statute was passed by Ohio’s legislature, and the taxpayer is a citizen of Ohio, the taxpayer received all the due process necessary under the law. The Court further determined that there was a rational relationship between the statute and its purpose, which was an emergency measure designed to preserve the status quo of the tax code during a public-health crisis.
